Melvin Guillard approaches each of his fights as if they are title fights, so the top 10 lightweight won’t sweat it if Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez ends up getting a title shot first.
After Saturday’s UFC on Versus 6, UFC president Dana White revealed to reporters that he’s working to bring Melendez into the UFC fold “ASAP” with the possibility of Melendez entering with an immediate shot at the belt. That’s potentially bad news for contenders in line for a chance at the winner of this Saturday’s UFC 136 title fight between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard.
“I wouldn’t be upset,” Guillard said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I look at it like this man, Two champions from two different organizations i think they both should fight to get rid of the No. 1 [contender].”
As for why Guillard has the patience to wait when most contenders campaign or at times outright begged (Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones) for a title shot, Guillard has several reasons. Guillard understands that the fans will want to see who the true champion is between the two promotions’ titleholders.
Additionally, Guillard doesn’t mind knocking off another potential No. 1 contender. The current No. 1 contender fight pits Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson and Guillard would be interested in fighting the former WEC champ.
“It takes the heat off of me too. I rather get another fight,” the 28-year-old says. “If it has to be the winner of Guida and Ben Henderson, but right now Guida is my teammate, so I won’t fight him, but if something went wrong and Ben won, then I’d take the Ben Henderson fight next if i had to. It all has to work itself out and see what happens. we can’t really say who’s next and who’s gonna get what. Right now my main focus is on beatting up Joe Lauzon Satuday, winning that fight and I’ll move forward from there.”
He definitely wouldn’t fight Guida though, at least in the near future. Guillard, who splits his training with Imperial Athletics in Florida and Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, has trained closely with Guida under Greg Jackson.
“I wouldn’t fight my teammate unless it’s for the title,” Guillard said. “That’s the only way me Cowboy {Donald Cerrone) or Clay Guida would ever fight each other. Because at that point, it’s about us having our legacy.”
After his first-round knockout over Shane Roller at UFC 132 in July, Guillard wanted to fight Jim Miller, but when Miller ended up fighting Henderson. Guillard then sought a fight on the UFC 136 card in Texas, where Guillard considers his second home after New Orleans. Examining the list of available opponents, and especially impressed with Lauzon’s dominant win over Curt Warburton, Guillard secured the fight after pitching Lauzon to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva as well as Lauzon’s camp.
Guillard, who is ranked in the top 10 as a lightweight fighter, doesn’t believe it is a step down to fight Lauzon, who is 2-2 in his last four fights. It all goes back to him envisioning every fight as a title fight. By the time he does fight for the belt, he won’t feel any pressure.
“The 155 is a big traffic jam right now,” Guillard said. “I could care less if i’m next or after that. I’m just going to keep fighting and keep winning … To me every fight is a title fight. I treat every fight like a title fight so right now I’ve felt like I’ve defended my title five times already and I’m working on No. 6 this weekend.”
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